Chadds Ford singer stars in upcoming feature film

In 2016, then 16-year-old singer Sofi Tyler’s breakout song
“Monotony” was used in the soundtrack to the film High Strung, directed by Michael Damian and written and produced by
Janeen Damian.

In that same year, Tyler found herself on a plane headed to
Bucharest, Romania to perform the role of Ava, a young opera singer, in High Strung Free Dance, also written,
directed and produced by the Damians, and starring Jane Seymour.

On Oct. 11, the soaring career of the Chadds Ford native,
now 19, will come full circle, as Tyler will make an appearance at the local
premiere of the film, which will be shown at the AMC Dine In Painters Crossing
9 in Chadds Ford, and open the same day in more than 100 other theaters in the
U.S.

On a brief hiatus from the LA College of Music in Pasadena,
Cal. where she is studying music, Tyler recently talked about her film debut,
her early influences and the music career that she is about to embark on.

Take me through the
journey of what got you to Bucharest to film High Strung Free Dance.

I had contributed “Monotony” to High Strung, and then Michael and Janeen asked me to work with them
on High Strung Free Dance. The
experience taught me a lot about filmmaking. It was really interesting to
actually be on a movie set. I got to see how hard everyone works on a film, and
how late they will stay up to get the perfect shot. I learned that you have to
put in 100 percent, otherwise you won’t end up seeing what you ultimately want
on the screen.

High Strung was an infectious combination of dance, song and
movement with a compelling story, and it’s fairly safe to say that the same is
true of High Strung FreeDance. Describe the feeling of being on the set.

It was almost like I was watching a movie. Everyone’s dancing
was really cool, and seeing some of the dance scenes was like watching an old
movie. I am used to being in front of the camera because my mother is a
photographer, so I didn’t feel uncomfortable on set, but it’s very odd to have to
put myself into as different character, which requires you to be over-the-top.

What are your career
aspirations, and which influences helped to shape those aspirations?

I want to be a rock star and go on tour performing my music.
When I was younger, my parents really liked rock music, and when I was a child,
I began to watch Hannah Montana, which made me want to become a singer. I also like
Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen and the Rolling Stones. Being a part of
the film definitely helped me gain a proper perspective and taste for the real
world.

You wish to be the
lead singer in a band that will perform your own original music, but finding
the right band is not always easy. In selecting the right musicians for who
will make up that band, what will you be looking for?

You have to find people who have the same interests as you, you
all have to share the same work ethic, and you need to connect well, or else it
doesn’t work. In a band, you need to be able to trust each other, because if
something goes wrong on stage, you need to know in advance what you need to do
in order to move the music forward, so that the audience doesn’t know.

In the film, you
perform “O Mio Babbino Caro” by Puccini. High
Strung Free Dance will be seen in over 100 theaters across the nation, and
thousands of people will see and hear you sing. It’s safe to say that this film
will do wonders to accelerate your musical career.

I definitely will receive a lot of exposure from the film,
but I can’t quite comprehend yet just how many people will end up seeing me on
a movie screen.

High Strung Free Dance
premieres at AMC Dine In Painters Crossing 9 on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. To see the
video for Sofi Tyler’s song “Monotony,” listen to it on Youtube. To learn more
about Sofi Tyler, visit her on Instagram. For more about High Strung Free Dance, visit www.highstrungthemovie.com.